Get a taste of extreme medicine.
Sign up to get 2 free sessions from WEM25 and get a taste of what it’s like at the World Extreme Medicine Conference. Travel from the heart of the Amazon to the South Pole through two full-length talks, selected to give you a genuine feel for the stories, insight and people at our annual event.
From rainforest risk to polar resilience
These sessions capture what the WEM Conference does best: bringing together hard-earned experience, practical lessons and remarkable human stories from environments where the usual rules no longer apply.
The sessions you’ll receive
Two full-length talks from WEM25, selected to take you from one end of the environmental spectrum to the other.
Amazon rainforest
Session 01
An Extreme Scientific Mission in the Heart of the Amazon: The Scales of the Forest
With Damien Lecouvey
Go inside a 40-day scientific mission in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park, where a mixed-experience team worked with local students and the Kichwa community to document reptiles and amphibians in one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.
Damien explores how the team prepared for remote fieldwork, managed snakebite and evacuation risk, built trust under pressure and kept science moving in an environment where three kilometres could take an entire day to cover.
- Why team selection is about trust as much as experience
- How clear procedures support decisions under pressure
- What 40 days in the rainforest revealed about leadership, safety and conservation
Antarctica
Session 02
Cold Truth: The Untold Journey to the South Pole
With Cat Burford
Cat shares the honest story behind her 708-mile solo journey to the South Pole, from learning to ski and building the experience needed to reach the start line to hauling a 100-kilogram pulk through deep snow, whiteouts and towering sastrugi.
This is a story of preparation, difficult decisions and learning to keep your inner voice on your side when the distance, conditions and numbers suggest you might not make it.
- How Cat responded when freak conditions put the expedition behind schedule
- The routines, mental-health checks and self-care that kept her moving
- Why reaching the South Pole was only one part of the journey
More than a conference talk
Expect stories that stay with you, lessons you can carry into your own work and a community willing to share the realities behind extraordinary experiences.
Real experience
Honest accounts from people who have worked, led and made decisions in demanding environments.
Practical insight
Ideas that connect expedition stories with leadership, wellbeing, risk and clinical thinking.
New perspectives
Unexpected connections across polar, jungle, humanitarian, space, ocean and other extreme settings.
Coming on your own?
Walking into a conference where you don’t know anyone can feel a little daunting. You’re very welcome to join WEM26 on your own, with opportunities to meet people through workshops, conversations between sessions and the Sunday night ceilidh.
A few familiar faces before the first session.
Join Resilient Minds for a walk the day before WEM26. It’s a chance to get outside, meet fellow attendees and start a few conversations before the conference gets underway.
Whether you’re coming solo or with colleagues, you’re welcome to join them and get to know some of the people sharing your weekend in Edinburgh.
13th November 2026
WhereHolyrood Road, Edinburgh
Visit the Instagram post for walk details and RSVP information.
Start with two sessions. See where they take you.
Complete the form to unlock the viewing page straight away. We’ll also email you the link so you can return to both sessions whenever you’re ready.
Like what you watch? Join us in Edinburgh.
WEM26 takes place at Dynamic Earth from 14–16 November 2026.